Sorry if this has been diaried already, I did a search for Levittown without results. So how did Obama win the suburban vote -- especially in communities where the voter makeup wouldn't seem at first glance to favor his campaign? This New York Times story shows how voters like Joe Sinistski, wearing "jeans, a sweatshirt and a National Rifle Association baseball cap," ended up voting for Obama when both polls and pundits were sure they wouldn't.
Sinitsky honestly admitted that Obama's "race made my decision harder." (hear that, Geraldine Ferraro?) "And I don't like his name. I'll admit to that, too," he told the Times.
Yet he also said about electing the first African-American president: "Part of me feels like it would be really cool."
We didn't become a post-racial society this week. We became a society where a fair number of key voters were able to honestly both confront their racial attitudes and the country's needs, and they put country first.
As the Times put it delicately, "If Mr. Obama's race had been a factor, they eventually had to weigh it against other concerns."
Or as Tina Davis, Bristol Township council president, put it more bluntly:
"They had to ask themselves if they wanted a really smart young black guy, or a stodgy old white guy from the same crowd who put us in this hole."
Sarah Palin frightened many of the voters who changed their minds. Unlike Senator McCain, these voters weren't looking for a pretty fresh face to carry on right-wing culture wars and energize the base; they were looking for someone who would be competent to step in and run the country if needed, and found her lacking.
Iraq still mattered to some Levittown voters as well, including Vietnam veterans who want our troops to be brought home.
We've been celebrating the shattering of political myths for months here at Daily Kos, as Frank Rich has as well. "Conventional wisdom" like Hispanics wouldn't vote for a black candidate. Jews wouldn't vote for a candidate with middle name Hussein. Women wouldn't get over Hillary and/or would be swayed positively by Palin. Young voters wouldn't turn out. White voters wouldn't vote for Obama.
But perhaps the most surprising crumbling of conventional wisdom was that a fair number of voters could acknowledge and look past their past prejudices and do what's best for America. We have them to thank too for the magnitude of President-elect Obama's mandate.
Frank Rich is right. Even while I'm concerned about some nuts and bolts things that will be going on in the new administration -- with all of our problems, who isn't? -- it still felt good the morning after.